by BEN WATANABE, South Whidbey Record Langley, Clinton, sports, South Whidbey Fire/EMS

Feb 7, 2013 at 10:00AM

A depleted South Whidbey roster surrendered a 15-point deficit at halftime to Nooksack Valley and failed to get back in the game.

The Pioneers ran away with the first-round victory, 58-31, Monday night on their home court. The Falcon girls basketball team fell to the consolation bracket, one loss away from elimination.

“Our varsity roster was down to eight, then we filled it in with JV girls,” said Falcon head coach Andy Davis. South Whidbey had two starters play through illness, and lost one senior a few games earlier.

Nooksack Valley (7-5 Northwest Conference; 14-7 overall) scored on the perimeter against South Whidbey’s zone defense. The Falcons have favored the zone, which allowed senior post Annalies Schuster to block and deter shots in the paint. Schuster was able to limit Nooksack’s top player Lindy Swanson in some ways, though she still scored 12 points.

The Falcons were led by senior Ellie Greene, who scored a game-high 17 points, and sophomore Anne Madsen.

The Falcons were already eyeing a third rivalry game with the Coupeville Wolves. South Whidbey and Coupeville split their two regular season games, each winning on its home court. Offensively, South Whidbey was a mess at the start of the season when they met Coupeville back in December.

A month later, the Falcons were in command early and cruised to a 49-25 thumping of the Wolves. That last match, coupled with the fact that the two teams’ players know each other on the small island community of Whidbey, has the Falcons ready for the next tipoff.

“We’re going to play our hardest to keep ourselves in district,” Greene said.

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